God

The Gift

/ joethewaller / Leave a comment

The greatest gift of all was born –
The gift of Christmas presence:
The God-man facing scorn and thorn
To save the sinful peasants.

Unto a race which cried for blood
Christ Jesus came fulfilling
The Father’s plan foretold in flood,
Worked out in Christ’s own killing.

But death of son meant death of sin.
The devil was defeated.
Christ’s rising brought new life to men,
And God will not be cheated.

So let the gospel ring this year
In ev’ry celebration,
And speak with joy to ev’ry ear
Of peace to ev’ry nation.

Fear of the Lord, part 1

/ joethewaller / 1 Comment

fear-of-the-lord-part-1-image

My eyes behold a sight so terrible
And lovely I cannot but stand in awe
And dread at knowing now what others saw,
The truth perceived in part through parable.
The Lord of all that is, in love and wrath,
Has ev’ry right to rid his world of me.
And I, now seeing him, do suddenly
Abandon all excuses for my path,
This road which led me to my own demise.
I am a sinful man deserving naught
But righteous condemnation without end.
Yet now I hear a spotless lamb’s last cries,
And now I learn my worthless life is bought,
And now I know that Christ has called me friend.

Searching for God’s Will

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God's Will image 10 10 16.jpg

Maybe you’re like me. When I see an article (or a sermon, book, pamphlet, smoke signal, etc.) on the topic of finding God’s will, I feel a sudden tinge of hope that the message might be “the one.” And, though you may have never defined it that way, you may very well have been searching for “the one” message as well. This one message, of course, is the message that will specifically answer your particular questions about what the future holds. No vagueness or generalities, this article would surely give you clear instructions to determine which decisions to make. Continue reading →

The Signpost of the Imperfect

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Imperfection's Signposts picture.jpg

C. S. Lewis penned something that has long confused me. In Mere Christianity, one of his most influential works, he wrote,

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
– C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

While I don’t disagree with him, I’ve never truly understood what he was getting at. I always wrestled with his point here, trying to accept it without truly comprehending it. But recently, I think it’s begun to dawn on me. Continue reading →

Purpose (Extended Version)

/ joethewaller / 1 Comment

purpose-image

Let my life be more than just existence.
Let me look beyond the day to day.
Teach me the importance of persistence
Till inner resistance falls away.
I am prone to wander, apt to tarry
When the time has come to carry on.
Be for me, therefore, a holy ferry
Through the night until the light of dawn.
Make me know the measure of my being.
Let me look beyond forgiven crimes.
With each passing moment, keep me seeing
Your eternity within our times.
May the purpose of this present moment
Far outweigh all former faults and fears.
Focus me in view of the atonement.
Fetter me to thee for all my years.